ASU alumnus Scott Semple and his wife Kacie were relaxing in the backyard of their Tempe home last weekend when they noticed a group of kids stopped in the middle of the alley, smoking marijuana.
Semple said he and his wife have been living in their home for 10 years. They have two kids, Paige, 6, and Davis, 3.
Transients sleeping on deserted couches or random salvagers picking up unwanted items are an all too familiar sight, he said.
“My wife and I were like, ‘Really? You’re just going to stop in the middle of the alley right behind someone’s house without looking around to see if someone else is there?’” Semple said. “It’s just boneheadedness.”
Similar incidents of marijuana use as well as graffiti, tagging and illegal trash dumping pushed the Tempe Solid Waste Service, Tempe Police, Prosecutor’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office to draw up and propose an ordinance that would give Tempe Police legal recourse to keep Tempe alleyways crime-free.
Tempe Police Assistant Chief Angel Carbajal said the endeavor would ensure alleyways are used for their intended purpose, including trash pick up.
“Alleys can be potentially used for criminal activity, so we just want to make sure that the folks who are using those alleys are there for the right purposes,” Carbajal said.
In some cases, Solid Waste vehicles nearly ran over transients who were hidden from view under oleanders or cardboard boxes, Deputy Public Works Director John Osgood said.
“It’s just to establish a little bit more control over what is a public right-of-way,” Osgood said. “People have the right to be there, but we’re trying to narrow down and focus a little bit more on the legitimate activities and the illegitimate activities.”
Osgood, Solid Waste Service Manager Mary Helen Giustizia and Tempe Police began working on the ordinance in July 2011 and plan for the ordinance to take effect within the next two months, Giustizia said.
“This is just a new way of trying to find a resolution to the issue,” she said. “It’s been something that — for years — has been an issue.”
Giustizia said the draft of the ordinance is currently a work in progress and is under review by the multiple city councils and departments that it would affect.
“We’re having other departments review the ordinance,” Giustizia said. “(We want) to make sure that it’s in good shape before it goes before the city council for review.”
Tempe alleyways would still be considered public right-of-ways, but the ordinance would only allow people with valid “reasonable cause” to pass through them. Giustizia said any transients sleeping in alleyways can be asked to leave by police.
If they refuse, they would be breaking the law.
Semple said he’s used to the “eyesores” behind his family’s home and doesn’t necessarily mind, but keeping his family safe outweighs illicit activity in the alley.
“I guess it’s the fight between my head and my heart,” he said. “I feel sympathetic, but at the same time, it’s family.”
Reach the reporter at sraymund@asu.edu
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